Will never thought he would have to defend attacks from his own team but the Project Tennebrae reveal tore everything apart. He runs. Before Donovan can do anything to stop him he runs. But his head hurts. He doesn't really know where he is. All he knows his he needs to run.
AU where Jensen doesn't die but not everything ends up ok when Donovan's murder fails
Here on AO3 @augusnippets
Will stumbled, falling against the upcoming wall. The grit scraped at his palms as he frantically pushed off to get his feet underneath him.
The world spun around him and his footsteps pounded in his ears as they pounded the pavement. Will used the wall as a crutch, like someone lost in a maze, to get as far away from here as he could.
He had to get somewhere safe. There was nowhere safe. Everything was wrong. Everything was lies. Everything hurt. He couldn’t think through the pounding behind his eye. Gracie had been right. He should have stayed in hospital. He wasn’t fit to be in the field. He shouldn’t be in the field anyway. He was just the fucking computer guy.
Someone honked as Will dashed across the road. He just had to get as far away from here as possible. Then he could stop. Then he could rest. No, no he couldn’t because the team had to know. He had to tell the team they couldn’t trust Donovan.
Another wall. This time on his blind side sending Will sprawling on the floor. No, no. Adeena would be following him. He knew too much she had to be following him. He didn’t have time to stop. Will stumbled up to his feet but his head swum, spinning on his neck as he tried to work out which way was forwards. Hospital, yeah he should probably be in the hospital. But then people would ask questions. Questions that would lead back to Donovan and Section 20. No, no hospitals.
“Sir, sir are you ok?” a faceless voice matched with a distant hand on his arm. He was going to throw up. The pain was a phantom of that chisel pounding into his skull. Even his remaining eye couldn’t see anymore. Why was he running? Where was Gracie? Wyatt? Mac? Why was he in the field without his team? He shouldn’t be in the field anyway. He was just the fucking computer guy. Although he got in just as much trouble when he was in front of the computers.
And there it was. He remembered. He needed to run.
“Will, there you are.”
No. No No No.
“Thank you miss. I was so worried,” Adeena cooed, her cold harsh grip replacing the faceless woman’s soft one on his elbow.
“No, no,” the begging fell out of Will’s mouth desperately instead of rattling around his brain.
“So sorry. My brother here has a serious concussion and must have forgotten where he was. I need to get him back to the hospital,” Adeena’s words faded in and out between Will’s struggles. Nothing he could muster was enough.
“Oh don’t worry about it I was just concerned. He really should be in the hospital,” the woman’s voice became more distant. She was leaving. No, she wasn’t leaving, Will was leaving. Adeena was pulling him backwards.
Next moment they were moving. A car? Must be a car. “What am I going to do with you Will?” Adeena sighed.
“Help,” he managed to choked out, a sob coming with it as his muscles spasmed with the pain.
“Yes. Ok. Let’s get you some medical care. You shouldn’t be running around with an injury like that. Maybe I was too hasty in taking you out of the equation. For some reason the rest of our team are quite fond of you.”
Will knew he should be doing something. But neither eye would open. Neither arm would move. He needed to tell Gracie something. He needed to run. But maybe he could do that after.
Joshua Graham (Fall Out: New Vegas) vs Will Jensen (Sons of Provo)
Joshua Graham (Fall Out)
Will Jensen (Sons of Provo)
Voting ended onJul 23, 2023
Character Info from Submissions under the cut (Joshua is one of the few characters to get two submissions so I've tried to combine them)
Joshua Graham (Canon)
Joshua Graham, “The Burned Man,” appears as an NPC in the Honest Hearts DLC for Fallout: New Vegas. (said DLC is likely riddled with problems related to Native American representation) But Graham is a popular character, he is a legendary figure in the history of the Mormons, the Legion, and tribes of former northwestern United States. Born in New Canaan, Graham experienced both the lofty heights of power and the depths of despair, first as the military commander of the Legion under Edward Sallow, then as the fallen Burned Man and a prodigal son. His stubborn refusal to die after being cast into the Grand Canyon elevated him to mythical status, striking fear into the hearts of superstitious legionaries and members of tribes of Utah and neighboring states.
He also said the following quotes:
“I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.”
“ I have been baptized twice, once in water, once in flame. I will carry the fire of the holy spirit inside until I stand before my Lord for judgment.”
Born and raised in New Canaan, a Mormon settlement in post-apocalypse Ogden, Utah. He served as a missionary to the Blackfoot tribe, co-founded a fascist replica of Rome, then realized the error of his ways after being set on fire and thrown off the Hoover Dam. He returned to New Canaan, found acceptance, rekindled his faith, and now seeks redemption and revenge against the legion he founded.
Will Jensen (Canon) Will Jensen is the front man of Everclean, the hot new boy band straight outta Utah. He could be a great leader, if only his ego didn't get in the way. Will has a strong relationship with mormonism, but has a bit of a rebellious streak (if you can call growing a beard rebellious).
Augusnippets - Day 31 - Tearful Goodbye - Strike Back
cw - canonical main character death, grief
Gracie doesn't hate Chetri. Gracie just hates that they need Chetri there. The only voice in her ear keeping them safe should be Will's and she is forgetting his voice. When she forgets his voice, then he is lost to her forever.
Here on AO3 @augusnippets
Gracie had basically fled as soon as Chetri wasn’t looking in her direction. She didn’t have long before she had to leave for the mission but her hands were shaking and her breath catching in her throat.
“Novin?” Mac frowned looking up from the intel packet.
Gracie cursed under her breath. In her haste to get outside and away from Chetri she hadn’t checked she was alone in the small alley outside the crib. “Mac,” she sighed, coughing when the words came out choked.
“Everything good?” Mac prompted, ever the gentleman despite seeing her frazzled and emotional.
“Yeah, yeah,” Gracie murmured, turning around to head back inside but stopping in the doorway. Mac might get it. He might be one of two people in her life right now that would. “Chetri brought up Will.”
“Ah,” Mac sighed, closing the folder and clutching at it so heard it left nail shaped indents in the paper.
“It brought back some, some emotions and some feelings I have been taking out on Chetri,” Gracie stepped back outside fully.
“We’ve all been doing it. It’s shit but I can’t stop comparing her to him,” Mac nodded and that confession started the flood.
“I told him that I didn’t want him there, I told him that this life wasn’t for him,” Gracie’s voice caught in her throat as she looked up at the sky, a desperate attempt to keep the tears in her eyes.
“Novin,” Mac sighed, stepping closer. Gracie waved her hand and sniffed as she shook her head. If Mac was fucking nice to her right now that would ruin everything. The dam would burst and she would be lose underneath that crippling grief once again. They didn’t have time for that. Her lips pressed together, teeth worrying the skin on the inside of her bottom lip.
“That was a lie. I lied because I wanted him safe. He was great at this. He wasn’t bad out there and when everything was going to shit his voice was always there to keep us safe,” one lone tear threatened her tender grasp on composure.
“I didn’t appreciate it until we didn’t have it anymore,” Mac sighed, “the voice on the other end of the radio before was always someone distant, a pencil pusher just for that job. But he was a part of the team and treated us like we were the only thing that mattered.”
Gracie nodded, the vice on her chest loosened as Mac verbalised some of her pain. “I’m forgetting it Mac. I’m forgetting his voice and it fucking hurts,” the last words troubled out of her in a pained yell, a wounded animal’s cry for help. “And Chetri. She’s great.”
“Every time the radio clicks and her voice comes through it, it’s like hearing Donovan confess to his murder over and over again. It’s reminding me I won’t hear his voice over the comms and I won’t get to see that stupid little nervous tic,” her hand automatically reached up to rub at the back of her neck.
“That he did whenever he had found something or did something clever but didn’t want to gloat about it,” Mac chuckled quietly.
“I told Chetri not to make friends on the job. Just clock in, clock out,” Gracie started to run out of steam and slumped against the wall next to Mac.
“That’s long gone for us ain’t it,” Mac smiled, knocking their shoulders together. It fell quiet but Mac slowly brought out his phone and was tapping away. Then Gracie’s phone buzzed. She turned and looked at him in confusion. “I wasn’t sure whether it would be healthy for you to have this but after today. I think it would really help. I, I shouldn’t have done it and it took a lot of string pulling but for me it’s worth it,” he nodded and walked back inside before Gracie could ask any of the questions she now had. Mac had texted her a phone number. With the man himself seemingly not going to elaborate Gracie shrugged. What was the point in waiting?
The phone rang. And rang. And rang. Whoever it was that Mac wanted Gracie to talk to clearly was not going to pick up. What a waste of …
“Hey there you. You have reached the voicemail of Will Jensen. If you are hearing this message then I either don’t want to talk to you or can’t talk right now. You should know which you are. If this call is urgent then, please text. I never check these things, and really does anyone call these days? If it’s not urgent then hey, it’s not my problem.”
Gracie didn’t notice the tears streaming down her cheeks. It was him. It was Will. It was his voice. It wasn’t his radio voice, his work voice but it was so him it hurt. She hung up, and redialled again.
“Hey there you. You have reached the voicemail of Will Jensen. If you are hearing this message then I either don’t want to talk to you or can’t talk right now. You should know which you are. If this call is urgent then, please text. I never check these things, and really does anyone call these days? If it’s not urgent then hey, it’s not my problem.”
She didn’t know how Mac had found it. Will never shared his personal phone with them. He had his work phone. Gracie had all of Will’s data, all of his secrets but this one. Now she would never let it go.
